STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY ABOUT BENGHAZI RAID

Darrell Issa to hold hearing Wednesday

A trio of high-level State Department officials with close knowledge of the terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, last September are scheduled to testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill about security failings at the site. The assault led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three men with ties to San Diego County.

The witnesses identified Saturday are Mark Thompson, the agency’s acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism; Eric Nordstrom, who was the Libyan regional security officer when the attack occurred; and Gregory Hicks, the former deputy mission chief at Benghazi.

“They have critical information about what occurred before, during and after the Benghazi terrorist attacks that differs on key points from what administration officials — including those on the (State Department’s) Accountability Review Board — have portrayed,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista.

Thompson, Nordstrom and Hicks are scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs. He has used his stewardship of the panel to press administration and State Department officials over security lapses at Benghazi.

Issa also contended Saturday that numerous other people with direct knowledge of the attack have contacted the committee but are unwilling to testify for fear of reprisals.

“In many cases, their principal reticence of appearing in public is their concern of retaliation at the hands of their respective employers,” he said.

The Accountability Review Board concluded in December that security management failures in Benghazi allowed the terrorists to first overrun the diplomatic compound and then a nearby security annex several hours later.

Issa’s hearing Wednesday follows a similar session conducted before the panel in October that revealed how requests for additional security at the U.S. compound had been rebuffed by State Department officials.

On Friday, Issa said at a Republican Party dinner in San Diego that testimony will include information about desperate telephone calls made to State Department officials as the attack took place, and that a planeload of troops prepared to rush to Benghazi were told to stand down.

Along with Stevens, two former Navy SEALs from San Diego County — Tyrone Woods of Imperial Beach and Glen Doherty of Encinitas — and State Department information management specialist and San Diego native Sean Smith were killed.

Doherty and Woods are credited with saving the lives of 30 Americans at Benghazi before they were killed.

Issa is scheduled to appear Sunday on the CBS show “Face the Nation” to discuss his ongoing Benghazi probe, one that Democrats complain has been highly politicized.

Democrats are particularly incensed by Issa’s accusation that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally signed off on a cable turning down the plea for more security forces. Officials have said they doubt Clinton ever saw the cable and that it simply carried a stamp of her signature.